Shadow from the West
by SorcerousOne
Summary: Baphomet, the greatest evil in the world, sets into motion his plan for total conquest of the world. Only a few brave adventurers dare to stand in his way. Chapter 1 has been rewritten. Chapter 9 should be coming soon!
1. Dark Designs

Author's notes: Just a few things readers ought to know about the Rune Midgard featured in this story. There is no respawning and crusaders are like the police of the world.

Chapter 1: Dark Designs

Glast Heim. An ancient and ruined keep located far to the west of the city of Geffen. No one knows the true history of Glast Heim. Some say it was where the king of the elves sent his youngest child to be protected in case of a coup. Others say it was the home of an ancient and ruthless human warlord who had managed to carve out a small realm in spite of the massive Elvish empire that ruled the continent. Whatever it was in times past, it is now home only to demons and the undead. Legends speak of the siege of Glast Heim, when Baphomet led his unholy army against the keep and ultimately took it over more than one hundred years ago. After seizing control, the demon lord used the ruined keep as his base of operations during what Elvish history calls the Great Demon War. Ultimately, Baphomet managed to inflict such staggering losses on the elves that their empire would soon crumble, but as a last ditch effort to stop the demon many of the greatest elf sorcerers banded together to seal Baphomet and his minions in the. The barrier does not prevent humans and elves from entering the ruins, though, and as the human kingdom of Rune Midgard expanded to fill the void left by the elves, its strongest warriors have begun to see the keep as the ultimate challenge of their abilities. Bands of adventurers occasionally enter the keep vowing to return with the head of Baphomet or one of his lackeys, but few ever return. Recently many of the Church of Rune Midgard's more daring acolytes have begun using the keep's ruined graveyard to learn to better channel their holy energies and destroy the undead and, as teleportation has become part of standard Church training, these brave men and women, provided they are careful, generally come into their priestly powers more swiftly than other, less daring, acolyte trainees.

Standing on a balcony jutting from one of the highest towers of the ruined keep, a solitary figure stood looking out over the ruins of his domain. A chill gust of wind blew over the castle, but aside from ruffling his mane a bit it had effect on Baphomet, Lord of Demons and the current ruler of Glast Heim. As the wind died down, the demon king sensed a presence behind him and turned to find one of his most trusted servants waiting for him. Standing ten feet tall and surrounded by a nimbus of black flames emanating from the burning, rotating eldritch symbol above which he floated, the Dark Lord presented an imposing sight, although he showed visible deference to twelve-foot tall, horned, and goat-footed Baphomet.

"Yes? You have something to report?" Baphomet asked his lieutenant.

"Everything is ready for your plan to begin," the Dark Lord replied.

"Excellent. Dispatch the signal. The first stage will begin very soon," Baphomet said, a wicked grin forming on his face. The Dark Lord bowed to his lord and then proceeded back into the tower and out of sight.

Still smiling, Baphomet looked out of Glast Heim toward the east, where the hated kingdom of Rune Midgard lay. Despite the perpetual oppressive gloom that had descended upon Glast Heim ever since Baphomet and his demons had taken over, it was still possible for Baphomet to make out the spire of the Geffen Wizards' Guild very faintly in the distance. The demon king let out a roar of laughter as he thought of how he would soon bring that tower, one of the greatest symbols of human "achievement" in the world, crashing down brick by brick, along with the rest of the human kingdom. Baphomet then turned and strode back into his castle, thinking about how he would soon be master of the entire world.


	2. Reunion

Chapter 2: Reunion  
  
Prontera. The capital city of Rune Midgard. Prontera is the largest city in the world of Rune Midgard. Prontera is located roughly in the center of Rune Midgard, in relation to the other cities of the world. It is home to the Church of Rune Midgard, which trains acolytes and priests to go forth and help the people of the kingdom. The city is also the base of the Crusaders, the organization responsible for enforcing the laws of the kingdom and keeping Rune Midgard safe. Though it is the only city in the world without a dungeon full of monsters either within the town or very close to it, Prontera does have its problems. The culverts of Prontera have recently become infested with thief bugs. A general announcement by the Crusaders has gone out in an attempt to recruit as many people to help clean out the culverts.  
Jela surveyed the scene before him. As usual, the center of Prontera was packed with people. Travelers passing through, merchants selling their wares, and crusaders patrolling were just a few of the different types of people that could be seen around the fountain in Prontera. Today, however, Jela wasn't interested in any of those people. He was looking for an acolyte. Seeing one, Jela began to walk towards him. As he approached the acolyte, however, he noticed that the acolyte was speaking to a blacksmith and taking what appeared to be a large sum of money from the blacksmith. Knowing what this meant, Jela began to hurry toward the acolyte. He arrived just as the acolyte pulled a shining blue gemstone from his pocket and tossed it onto the ground, chanting. As the acolyte finished chanting, the blacksmith disappeared in a flash of light and a portal appeared on the ground where she had stood.  
"Where does that portal go?" asked Jela.  
"Payon town," replied the acolyte.  
"Can you make a warp to Geffen?" Jela asked.  
"I can, but first I need to go get some more blue gemstones. Also, warps cost one thousand zenny. Wait here, I'll get some gems and come back," the acolyte told him. Resigned to waiting, Jela sat down as the acolyte disappeared into the crowd to find a merchant. A few minutes later, the acolyte returned.  
"So, do you have the money to pay for the warp?" asked the acolyte.  
"Of course," replied Jela as he stood up and began pulling coins out of his money bag. When he had extracted one thousand zenny, he put his money bag away and handed the money to the acolyte. The acolyte then tossed a blue stone at Jela's feet and began chanting. An instant later, the gemstone flashed and a portal sprang up underneath Jela. Jela managed one last glance at Prontera before he was consumed by the blinding white light of the portal.  
  
Geffen  
  
Moments later, Jela's view cleared to reveal that he was in a very different city. He looked around and took in the sights and sounds of his childhood home, Geffen, the City of Magic. In front of him stood the town's most prominent feature, the Wizards' Tower, home of the Wizard Guild. Mages ascended the tower daily to join the Wizard Guild. The Tower, however, was not what Jela, a member of the Thieves' Guild of Morroc, was interested in. Instead, he followed the familiar road toward where his house had been four years ago. He had no idea if it was still there, but his friend Aya had lived right next door and as far as he knew she had stayed in Geffen to train with the Mage Guild. As he walked toward the corner of Geffen where his home had been, he suddenly heard a voice shouting his name.  
"JELA!" shouted the voice. An instant later, he was hit in the stomach by a figure who proceeded to embrace him, and in the process sent them both tumbling to the ground. As soon as he glanced down and saw the figure's bright green hair tied in a familiar braid, he knew that this was his old friend Aya. Except, she was very different from the way he remembered her. 


	3. Journey

Disclaimer: I do not own Ragnarok Online or anything associated with it.  
  
Chapter 3:  
  
Geffen City. Geffen is known as the City of Magic because it is home to the Wizards' Guild of Rune Midgard. The Wizards' Guild is based in the gigantic Wizards' Tower which dominates the center of the city. A vast dungeon full of monsters is located beneath the Wizards' Tower and many adventurers use this dungeon to train, although many who venture too far into the lower levels never return again. Geffen is located in the western part of the kingdom of Rune Midgard. It is not in very close proximity to anything other than the ancient ruins of Glast Heim. Being located close to Glast Heim makes Geffen an almost unavoidable rest-stop for adventurers seeking fame and fortune by assaulting Glast Heim. Geffen is also located at the base of Mt. Mjolnir, atop which stand the cities of Al De Baran and Juno.  
  
The first thing Jela noticed about his old friend Aya was not actually something that was different about her. As they both stood up he noticed that she was still about as tall as she had been when he left Geffen years ago.  
  
"Have you grown taller at all since I left?" Jela asked her. Aya, who had been almost jumping up and down with happiness, suddenly looked angry and grabbed her staff from off her belt.  
  
"BAD JELA!" she shouted as she whacked Jela in the head with her staff, sending him sprawling to the ground once again. He stayed on the ground for a second in case she hit him again, but when she didn't Jela stood up and dusted himself off. "What are you staring at?" Aya asked suspiciously as he stood up.  
  
"Nothing," replied Jela, who didn't want to admit that while she wasn't any taller than when he had left, Aya was more mature.  
  
"Ok," said Aya, still somewhat suspicious. "Now come meet my teacher! He's really nice and he's traveled a lot so he has lots of great stories to tell!" The two set off towards the Wizards' Tower, chatting and catching up on what's happened in the last few years. Occasionally Aya would catch Jela looking over her shoulder at another girl's chest and would hit Jela on the head with her staff, but they eventually made it to the Wizards' Tower.  
  
"May I help you?" asked the wizard standing inside the door.  
  
"We're looking for Master Sigma," replied Aya.  
  
"I will go get him. Please wait here for a few minutes," the wizard said as he walked over to a nearby staircase and began to climb. Aya and Jela sat down on a bench near the stairs and continued talking about what they had done over the past few years. A few minutes later they heard footsteps coming back down the stairs. The wizard who had greeted them returned first followed by another wizard.  
  
"That's my teacher Sigma," Aya whispered to Jela, pointing at the second wizard. Jela had seen several wizards during his time in Morroc with the Thieves' Guild, but this wizard seemed somehow more powerful than any other wizard Jela had ever seen. "Is he some kind of king?" whispered Jela.  
  
"No, why would you think that?" Aya whispered back.  
  
"He's wearing a crown," whispered Jela.  
  
"Oh, that. No, he's not a king. Ask him about that crown," whispered Aya.  
  
"Aya, it's good to see you as always. Who's your friend?" said Sigma as he stepped off the stairs and approached the pair.  
  
"I'm Jela," the thief told the wizard.  
  
"Ah, so you're the famous Jela. Aya's told me a lot about you, and whenever I've gone to Morroc she's always asked me to let you know how she's doing. Unfortunately, I never saw you. I guess the Thieves' Guild kept you busy," said Sigma. He then noticed Jela staring at the crown atop the wizard's head.  
  
"Where did you get the crown?" asked Jela.  
  
"This? I actually found this deep in the pyramids of Morroc back in my adventuring days. I found that it helps me focus my magic and so I kept it," replied the wizard. Sigma took the crown and handed it to Jela to look at for a minute before placing it back around his silver-grey hair. The wizard then turned and addressed Aya. "Aya, now that your friend is here I think it's time for you to begin your final exam. Please tell me the first rule of traveling as a mage."  
  
"Never travel alone," Aya recited from memory.  
  
"Good. For your final exam you two are going to travel from here to Prontera on foot. There's nothing incredibly dangerous between here and Prontera, so you two shouldn't have very much trouble getting there. Since Jela just arrived, I'll give you two the rest of the day to prepare for your journey and rest. You can bring as many people along on the journey as you wish, but you are not allowed to use a warp portal to get to Prontera. Your journey will start tomorrow morning outside the east gate of Geffen. See you tomorrow!" Sigma told them. He then reached into his cape and took a piece of paper with all of the instructions for the exam out and gave it to Aya. With a cheerful wave, Sigma strode out of the wizard tower and into the main city.  
  
"How did I get drafted to help you with your final exam?" Jela asked Aya after Sigma had left.  
  
"Well, Master Sigma told me about my final exam and said I needed to find a friend to come along with me. Since mage training takes years anyway and I knew you were coming back here once you'd become a thief, I told him you'd help me," replied Aya. The two walked out of the tower and spent the rest of the day visiting their families and old friends as well as stocking up on supplies for the journey.  
  
Next morning the two woke up and, after making sure they had everything they needed, said goodbye to their families and went to Geffen's east gate. They found Sigma there waiting for them.  
  
"Good morning," said Sigma as they approached. "Before you leave I have something for each of you that I think might help you on your journey." Sigma extracted from his cape a pair of goggles and a red hat with a talisman hanging from the front. "Aya, take this Munak Hat. The magic talisman on the front will offer you some protection from the undead. And Jela take these goggles. They will help protect you from harm. Now I wish both of you good luck on your journey. I will meet you in Prontera." With those final words, Sigma drew a small object from his cape, tapped it, and disappeared in a flash.  
  
"Well, let's get going," said Aya and the two set off into the world of Rune-Midgard. 


	4. Mage

Chapter 4: Mage

Disclaimer: I do not own Ragnarok Online or anything associated with it.

Aya and Jela opened the paper Sigma had given them and quickly read the guidelines of the examination. Sigma had summarized most of it for them in the tower the day before. They were simply supposed to venture through the wilderness from Geffen to Prontera without receiving teleportation from an acolyte or priest. Additionally, once the two reached Prontera Aya would be expected to demonstrate at least partial mastery of one of the schools of magic, Fire, Ice, Lightning, or Spirit.

"Well, let's get going then!" said Aya enthusiastically, and the two set off into the east on their journey to Prontera. They first headed north to the land bridge connecting the island in the middle of the large inland lake which Geffen rested upon to the mainland of Rune Midgard. Along the way they encountered a myriad of other adventurers and travelers. Because of Geffen's relative remoteness compared to other towns most of the people outside the city were aspiring mages training under the watchful eyes of guild wizards. Also notable were the merchants traveling the trade routes between Geffen and the other cities of the kingdom. As they traveled to and across the land bridge Aya and Jela took the opportunity to hone their skills against the numerous wild monsters that inhabit the wilderness between the cities. Jela had been taught basic fighting and thieving techniques during his time at the Thieves' Guild, but he had heard rumors that the Assassins' Guild accepted only the best, and Aya was expected to perfect her spells by the time they reached Prontera, so they trained as hard as they could without getting in over their heads. Aya did not always end up practicing her spells on just monsters, however. As Jela quickly learned Aya was very picky about her food. One time when Aya went off into the nearby woods to find more firewood she returned to find that Jela had eaten her biscuit. The thief quickly discovered that his mage friend had been practicing a spell called Napalm Beat, as he was blasted over by the spell as Aya furiously shouted at him.

"That was my biscuit! I wasn't done with it yet!" the mage screamed at him. She relented only after he agreed to cook another biscuit. One bonk from the staff later and the mage had forgiven Jela. Several more similar incidents occurred during the pair's journey, but the results never left Jela seriously harmed.

As the pair moved farther away from Geffen they passed through a mountain pass into a more mountainous region. While continuing east through this area they discovered a small chapel by a lake. Inside the chapel Aya and Jela found a priest tending the chapel and a fully armed war party resting within. Wondering why they were there, Aya and Jela approached the party.

"What's such a heavily armed group doing up in these mountains? From what I've heard in Geffen there's really nothing that threatening between Geffen and Prontera," Aya said to a knight who was polishing his sword.

"We've heard rumors of acolytes being attacked by a vicious monster while trying to get to this chapel as part of their initiation test. The priest here says he's heard the same rumors. They say the monster looks like a giant hornet. Did you two see anything like that on your way up here?" replied the knight.

"We saw hornets but they've all been regular sized," Jela told the knight. A hunter leaning against the wall spoke up.

"Well, if you see anything out of the ordinary use this," said the hunter as he handed Jela what appeared to be a pair of feathers. "Those are called Fly Wings. If you ever get in trouble, crush one of those in your hand and you'll be warped somewhere else nearby. But make sure you're holding hands or something because only the person who crushes the wing and anyone they're touching will be warped."

"Thanks," replied Jela as he took the wings and put them in his pouch. After resting at the temple for a while Jela and Aya said their goodbyes to the hornet hunters and continued toward Prontera. They did not see anything fitting the description given to them by the knight.

Soon the cliff-filled surroundings gave way to a large stepped area around a V-shaped river. A single bridge placed at the tip of the river granted access to the area beyond. As they traversed the steppes the pair encountered an acolyte and a knight heading toward the west.

"Travelers, would you happen to know where the chapel nearby is? I'm on my pilgrimage for the Church and I need to find the chapel," the acolyte told them.

"The chapel's not far. Just keep heading west from here. Once you see the lake you should be able to find the chapel without too much trouble. Which way is Prontera from here?" Jela asked the acolyte and her companion.

"Prontera City is southeast of here. I suggest you head south from here until you hit the plains instead of going east into the forest first. It's a lot less hassle to get through the west gate than it is to go through the Castle gate in the north," replied the acolyte.

"Oh! And while you're near the chapel watch out for a giant hornet. We met some people hunting it who said it's been attacking acolytes recently," Aya told the acolyte and the knight.

"Ah, the fabled giant hornet. We've heard about that. Thanks for the warning," replied the knight. The two pairs then set off in different directions. Aya and Jela, following the advice of the acolyte, headed down the steppes toward the south.

Eventually, the land evened out and they began to encounter more people. Many of them were acolytes from the Church training, but most were travelers entering or leaving Prontera City. Somewhat exhausted from their long and arduous journey, the mage and the thief headed into the west gate of Prontera. They were briefly questioned by a guard at the gate, but when they mentioned the Mage Guild exam the guard waved them through.

Aya, who had never been to a city as big as Prontera, was overwhelmed by the sheer size of the city and the number of people. Though they had arrived in the late afternoon, when the streets had begun to empty out, there were still more people than Aya had ever seen wandering the streets. Powerful priests mingled with trainee merchants from Alberta. Assassins from the desert went about their business quickly then vanished into the crowd. Sages argued with one another on the meaning of ancient texts. Jela, who had been in Prontera before, was not as much in awe of the city as his friend, but the magnitude of people never ceased to amaze the thief.

"We should find your teacher," Jela said to Aya. As though he had heard them, Sigma appeared from the crowd and strode toward them.

"Welcome to Prontera City, the capital and largest city of Rune-Midgard. I'm glad to see you both made it here safely," said the wizard. "Now, I believe a demonstration of magic is in order, Aya. What school of magic have you been practicing?"

"I've been practicing Spirit spells a lot, Master Sigma," replied Aya. To demonstrate, she blasted Jela off his feet with the same Napalm Beat spell she had cast on him when he had eaten the biscuit. Sigma chuckled and, after Aya had helped her friend back to his feet and apologized to him, the wizard reached into his cloak and pulled out a book.

"Aya, with this spell book I formally bestow upon you the title of Mage," the elder wizard told Aya as he gave her the book. "In that book you will find more powerful spells than the ones taught at the academy. However, in order to control these more powerful spells you'll need a certain amount of experience casting the basic spells you already know. When you think you've mastered enough magic to qualify for the title of Wizard, come back to the Tower in Geffen and you'll be tested. Congratulations on passing your exam, and in record time as well. You managed to get here in a little over a month. Well done."

"Thank you Sir!" Aya said cheerfully as she put the book in her backpack.

"Now that you're a mage, there's nothing left for me to teach you. I wish you luck and hope to see you again soon at the Tower when you qualify to become a Wizard," Sigma said. "And thank you for accompanying her Jela. I'm sure that means a lot to Aya. Oh, you two can keep the hats I gave you." As the wizard was about to turn and leave a pair of Crusaders rode up on their Peco Pecos and called down to the three.

"You there, Wizard. A moment of your time if you don't mind," the lead Crusader said to Sigma as he got down from his mount and faced the wizard. "The city requires the help of any seasoned adventurer it can find. A great scourge has befallen our city and the Crusaders have been dispatched to find as many warriors as we can to combat it."

"What sort of 'scourge' are we talking about here?" Sigma asked skeptically.

"The Prontera Culverts have become infested with small, brown insects. These insects have a habit of devouring anything they find on the ground, and have been known to..." the Crusader began.

"Wait, do you mean thief bugs?" the wizard asked. "The 'great scourge' you're having trouble with is _thief bugs_?" It was obvious that Sigma was trying not to laugh, and Jela and Aya were also grinning.

"You don't understand the situation. They've completely infested the Culverts. We need to keep the Culverts safe or else the city's water supply could become contaminated," the Crusader, who was obviously embarrassed, said. His partner, who had by now dismounted from his Peco Peco and come over to the group, spoke up.

"Listen, all we need to know is if you'll help us clean out the Culverts or not. We're not going to draft you into helping us, but the whole city would greatly appreciate any help you can give us. The situation is somewhat out of control," the second Crusader said. Sigma, still obviously trying not to laugh, began to reply but Aya interrupted.

"We could help you," said the mage. "My friend and I can help you clean out the bugs!"

"Actually, that sounds like an excellent idea. I have important business to attend to in another part of the kingdom anyway," said the wizard. "If the bugs are still around when I finish I'll see what I can do. See you all around." After shaking hands with Jela and accepting a hug from Aya, Sigma nodded to the Crusaders and walked off into the crowds around the center of the city.

"You both look tired. Take this note with you and present it at the Crusaders Office in the northeast part of the city tomorrow. Ask for Captain Hero and Lieutenant Davon and we'll explain everything to you and get you started," the second Crusader, Davon, said to the mage and thief as he handed them a small piece of paper stamped with the Crusaders' seal. "There's an inn in the northeast part of town that's reserved for people working for the Crusaders. Go there and show them that paper. The inn is called the Holy Cross."

"Hey, I'm in charge here. They should start immediately," Hero, the first Crusader, said to Davon as Aya and Jela began walking off.

"Can't you see they're both tired? They just finished a Wizard Guild exam, which means they came all the way from Geffen," replied Davon. "Let them go. That golden bug everyone says is in the bottom of the Culvert isn't going anywhere. Let them start tomorrow."

"Fine," Hero agreed grudgingly. "Come on, we've got work to do." The two Crusaders mounted their Peco Pecos once more and rode off to find more recruits to help the Culverts. Aya and Jela, meanwhile, found the Holy Cross inn and, after displaying their notice and renting two rooms, enjoyed the first good food and soft beds they'd had in a month.


	5. Discovery

Chapter 5: Discovery

Disclaimer: I do not own Ragnarok Online or anything associated with it.

Dungeons. The name "dungeon" is given to any place around Rune-Midgard which is famous for being completely overrun by monsters. Though the ruined keep of Glast Heim is the kingdom's most famous dungeon, there are numerous others located throughout the kingdom. Most towns have at least one dungeon located either within or very close to the city, such as the labyrinth of ancient ruins beneath the Geffen Wizard Tower or the deep caves in Payon's Archer Village. Many adventurers fight monsters in the dungeon to hone their skills, knowing that more will crawl out of the darkness to replace the fallen. Rumors suggest that there may be monsters of incredible power lurking in the lowest levels of many dungeons, but so far none of the "boss monster" rumors have been proven to be true.

Stepping out of the portal into the city of Juno, Sigma immediately began walking toward the northeast corner of the floating city. Suspended in the air by magic and connected to the mainland of Rune-Midgard by a single bridge, the ancient city has been home to the Sages' Guild since as long as anyone can remember. Long ago, when the city was the capital of its own small kingdom, Juno was raised into the sky by a powerful combination of magic and technology, and to this day the powerful spell engine keeps the city aloft. Sigma's destination was none other than the city's famous Sage Guild, located in the northeast corner of the city. Not wasting any time, the wizard entered the Guild building and sought out a sage.

"Excuse me, but where can I find a sage specializing in monster myths?" the wizard asked the sage.

"Ah, you'll want to look for Revaine. Those old legends are her specialty," the sage replied. "You'll find her in her workroom one floor down."

"Thank you," the wizard said as he hurried off to find Revaine. Upon reaching her room, located next to a small library, he knocked on the door and waited. A few moments later, the door opened and a woman with fiery red hair stuck her head out to see who had knocked. As soon as she saw the wizard she grinned and swung the door fully open.

"Sigma! It's been a long time since I last saw you. How have you been?" Revaine said as she led her old companion into the workshop. The two of them had met when they were both Mages traveling the world in search of power, in the wizard's case, or knowledge, in the sage's. They became good friends and traveled together until they had become wizard and sage. After that they parted ways while staying friends. Sigma joined a group of adventurers and became somewhat famous across the kingdom while Revaine stayed in Yuno and continued her studies of mythical beasts. The wizard had visited his sage friend several times seeking advice, but after his adventuring group parted ways Sigma returned to Geffen to teach at the Guild and had stayed there.

"I'd love to stay and tell you, but I have pressing business. The lives of one of my former students and her friend, as well as those of many adventurers in Prontera may be in danger."

"Is this about the thief bug problem in the city's culverts? Someone told me about the legend of the Golden Thief Bug a few days ago, and I started to research it to see if there was any basis for the legend. I haven't found anything so far, though."

"Maybe I could help you. Looks like you have a lot of books to go through..." said Sigma as he looked around the room. Piles of books littered the workroom, covering the floor, desk, and bookshelves completely. The center of the desk held a single open book and enough space for a pile of papers that were obviously notes, but ancient books were stacked three or four high on every other available space on the desk.

"Sure, that would be great. I've been through most of the books in here already, so why don't you try looking in the library. I have a couple of magically sealed books that you may want to look at in there too," Revaine replied. She carefully picked her way through the piles of books littering the floor, sat down at her desk, and began poring over the book there.

Sigma grinned as he exited the workroom and went next door to the library. He'd always admired Revaine's complete dedication to her work. There had been a time when his friends had jokingly accused him of being romantically involved with the sage, but they had been wrong and had known it. Revaine was dedicated to her work, and Sigma knew that no matter happy she was in a relationship, it would interfere with her work somewhat and she wouldn't want that. Reminiscing, he proceeded into the small library and looked around. The library was much more organized than Revaine's workroom, and he had no trouble finding the magic tomes that the sage had spoken of. He quickly identified two of the books as being magically enchanted weapons. He'd seen sages and some priests fight with books, and he'd even seen a few sages who were so well trained with the book as a weapon that they were deadlier with it than with their magic.

Setting aside the weapons on a corner of the small table he'd found in the corner of the room, Sigma turned his attention to the other two magic books. These were not weapons, but were sealed with powerful magic to prevent their being opened. Sigma knew of some wizards back in Geffen who knew how to open magic locks without any effort at all, but he was not one of them. He could, with time, break almost any magical seal, but Sigma was in a hurry and didn't want to waste the time needed to open the books if they weren't going to help him. The wizard picked up one of the books and set about trying to identify it. He quickly realized that the runes on the book were ancient Elvish, and from the limited amount of runes his Guild had deciphered he discerned that he was holding a history of the Elf kingdoms. Setting that book aside, Sigma began to identify the final magically sealed book.

Back in Prontera City, Aya awoke in the inn to discover that Jela was not there. Upon asking the bartender where he had gone, she learned that he had left earlier that morning and had yet to return. After having a quick breakfast, Aya returned to her room wondering where Jela could have gone so early, and soon after she had gone upstairs Jela returned.

"Where did you go?" asked the mage.

"I... went weapon shopping. I figured that since you don't really fight with your staff anyway you wouldn't want to look for a better weapon, so I went when you were asleep," Jela told her. He pulled a new dagger out of its sheathe at his side and showed it to her briefly before putting it away. Aya didn't recognize the dagger as anything she'd ever seen in a store before, and it looked very sharp.

"Have you already had breakfast? If you have, we should get going to the Crusader headquarters," Aya said to Jela.

"Ok, let's get going."

The two checked out of the inn and then made their way to the northeast corner of the city. Though it was fairly early in the morning, many people were already out on the streets bustling about. Since adventurers could pass through at any time, many merchants selling weapons, armor, or other items that could spark a traveler's interest opened up shop early in the morning. As Aya and Jela passed through town they stopped briefly at several of these stores to browse, but made steady progress toward the Crusader building. The pair also noticed blacksmiths sitting in out-of-the-way alleys crafting weapons and armor to sell later that day. Adventurers milled about the streets, but overall the crowds were much thinner than when the thief and the mage had arrived in the middle of the day after their journey from Geffen. It didn't take them long to reach the Crusader building. They were greeted at the door by a slightly bored-looking crusader.

"Are you two with the Culvert squad?" he asked them.

"Yeah. We were told to come here to find Captain Hero and Lieutenant Davon," replied Aya.

"Go ahead inside," the crusader said as he waved them inside. The two walked in and, after asking another crusader, found the Captain and the Lieutenant in a storage room with a whole group of other adventurers. The group consisted of a wide range of adventurers. An assassin, her long black hair hanging loose, leaned against one of the walls. Two swordsmen were practicing their sword fighting techniques with each other. A second black-haired woman, wearing blue-white wizard's robes, stood conversing with a young woman in acolyte robes. Several of the people in the room glanced their way when Aya and Jela walked in, but they returned to what they were doing almost immediately. Hero, however, cleared his throat and addressed the group.

"Now that this group is all here, we can get going. Your mission is simple," the crusader said. "We're going to go into the Prontera Culverts and kill as many thief bugs as possible in the hopes that we'll find the source of the infestation. We know that the bugs are more numerous on the lower levels, and that's also where we've seen the larger bugs. You're not required to go down there, though, as it's somewhat dangerous." As Hero spoke, Davon walked among the group and handed out a pouch to each person. "Inside the pouch," continued Hero, "you will find several potions which will heal you when you drink them. These are free, but they're the only ones we're providing. Now, if you're all ready, let's get going."

The two crusaders led the group out of the Crusader building and toward Prontera's West Gate. As they walked, the blue-robed wizard approached Aya.

"It's nice to see another guild member out here. Are you new as a mage or have you been out of Geffen for a while?" the wizard asked her.

"I just finished my exam yesterday," Aya told her.

"You _are_ new. Who was your teacher?"

"Sigma taught me. Do you know him?" responded Aya. The wizard thought for a moment.

"Sigma... Hmm... Does he have black robes?" she asked.

"Yeah! You know him?"

"I know _of_ him. A lot of the stronger wizards in the guild have uniquely-colored robes. I think I was a student at the same time as your teacher..." the wizard mused. "Oh, I'm sorry, I haven't introduced myself. I'm Tsunami."

"I'm Aya, and this is my friend Jela," Aya said, grabbing the thief and pulling him over as a way of indication. Jela gave a halfhearted wave and then returned his attention forward. Aya thought about looking to see what he was so focused on, but decided she'd rather just not know. Instead she turned back to Tsunami. "How could you have trained with Sigma? You don't look that old, but his hair..."

"Oh! I remember Sigma! He's the one with the silver hair, isn't he?" she exclaimed. When Aya nodded, the wizard continued. "He's not actually that old. As far as I can remember, his hair has always been like that."

At this point, the group passed under the West Gate and proceeded out into the West Fields. The crusaders paused for a moment to inform them they had about 15 minutes of walking left until they reached the Culvert and then resumed walking. Along the way, the black-haired assassin woman slowed her pace somewhat and handed a small Butterfly Wing to each member of the group.

"Crush this if you get in trouble or need to get back to the city fast," she said before resuming her silent walk. When the group reached the Culverts, the crusaders stopped them once more.

"Welcome to the Culverts," said Davon. "It may look dark from here, but there are a lot of torches down there, so it's relatively well lit."

With this, the group of adventurers descended the stairs into the Culverts.

In a library beneath Yuno, the wizard Sigma sat bolt upright at the table he was working at. He had finally forced the sealed book open and begun reading. One particular page caught his eye, and after quickly looking at it once, he leapt from his chair, grabbed the book, and almost ran next door to Revaine's workroom.


	6. Descent

Chapter 6: Descent

Disclaimer: I do not own Ragnarok Online or anything associated with it.

Elves. History suggests that before the human kingdom of Rune-Midgard was formed there was a thriving elvish kingdom on the main continent of the kingdom. Ancient elvish tomes have been found scattered around the kingdom and the Wizards' Tower in Geffen is built over ancient ruins that many believe to be elvish. Many of the sages residing in Yuno spend their entire lives deciphering elvish histories found in books. From the work of many scholars over many years, a speculated history of the elves has been composed. It is believed that the ancient elvish kingdom covered most of what is now the main continent of Rune-Midgard, and was based in what is today the city of Geffen. However, the demon lord Baphomet, upon entering the world, declared war on the elvish kingdom. Though the elves put up a tremendous fight and the demon army suffered many casualties in the process, Baphomet's infernal army ultimately laid waste to the elvish kingdom. However, before being driven into hiding by the demons, the elves managed to cast a powerful spell to temporarily seal Baphomet and the most powerful of his demons inside the ruins of Glast Heim. Few elves remain in the world today, and most remain in hiding. Some, though, travel the world and a few have even been known to settle in human cities.

Hero and Davon led their group to a small building near the river. The pair of guards standing at the entrance stood aside and allowed the group to enter the building. Inside the building was a hole leading into the ground with metal stairs descending out of sight. The two crusaders motioned for the group to follow them down the stairs. As they descended, Jela noticed that the stone steps he had been walking on had at some point become metal. No one spoke as they walked down the metal steps until they reached a metal ramp. As they descended the ramp, several members of the groups, who had never seen something like the culverts before, gasped in awe. The room they had entered was enormous; bigger than any room Aya, Jela, and most of the group had ever seen before. Tsunami, the assassin, and the two Crusaders were among the few who looked nonplussed at the sheer size of the room, and the group paused so that people could gape. Stretching out into the darkness, the room was a gigantic maze of metal platforms separated by water channels and connected by infrequently spaced metal bridges. Braziers placed on the platforms and the light shining from the surface through the surface door provided some illumination for the giant room, but overall the chamber seemed almost oppressively dark. Glancing around, Aya noted the forms of brown insects scurrying around on the platforms that made up the room. Hero and Davon stopped and turned to address the group once again.

"This is the top floor of the Culverts. The infestation problem isn't nearly as bad here as it is in the lower parts of the pipe network, so some of you younger people who don't have as much experience fighting monsters probably want to stay up here. Anyone who thinks they're strong enough is welcome to venture into the lower tunnels," Hero said to the group.

"We've sealed off most of the pipe networks to prevent the spread of the bugs, but a network has been left open on the far side of this room. That network will eventually take you down to one of the lowest levels of the Culverts, but if you're going I suggest you don't go alone. Barely any of the people who've gone into the lower levels have come back alive, and none of the ones that did went to the lowest level," said Davon as he gestured out into the darkness. "Anyway, you're free to come and go as you please. Just let us know if you find anything interesting." Davon finished speaking and the two crusaders walked off into the darkness toward where Davon had indicated the door to the lower levels lay.

The younger members of the group, such as the acolyte and the swordsman, immediately formed into a group and began debating whether to risk entering the open pipe network or to just stay on the upper level in safety. Without saying a word, the black-haired assassin woman walked off after Hero and Davon toward the lower levels. Tsunami turned to Aya.

"Well, time to get to work. It was nice talking to you and your boyfriend on the way here. See you around!" the wizard told them cheerfully as she turned and followed the crusaders and the assassin. Aya and Jela both went red, and Jela pretended he hadn't heard the wizard's statement. Tsunami walked away chuckling and, after their faces had turned back to normal colors, the thief and mage turned to each other.

"Let's follow them Jela!" said Aya, enthusiastically tugging on Jela's arm. "I'm sure we can handle a few bugs."

"Are you sure that's a good idea? We don't know what's down there..." replied Jela uncertainly.

"We'll be fine. You're here!" Aya exclaimed, continuing to pull Jela along.

"Fine, fine..." the thief conceded. As they walked towards the other end of the culverts, they quickly realized that moving around was more difficult than it had looked. They saw signs that there had once been several bridges connecting each platform to those around it, but obviously many of those bridges had rusted and fallen away. The result was that Aya and Jela had to take a long, circuitous path all the way around the platforms on their way to the path leading down. While they walked, they began to get an idea for how strong the thief bugs, as well as other creatures living within the Culverts, were.

"It didn't work!" Aya shouted as she attempted to cast Napalm Beat on a passing thief bug and watched as her spell seemed to pass right over the bug with no effect. Enraged, Aya lifted her staff and chanted a quick incantation. Several spears of ice materialized in the air around the thief bug, slammed into the insect, and exploded. Badly wounded but not quite dead, the bug growled and spun around to face the mage, intending to attack, when its life was ended by a quick thrust of Jela's dagger.

"I guess we know now that that spell doesn't work on these bugs," Jela said as Aya prodded the dead bug with her staff. "Looks like you're going to have to train some magic other than spirit spells."

"Yeah..." Aya said dejectedly. Working as a team, the two managed to make it to the other side of the Culverts fairly quickly and, after dispatching a pair of bats near the ramp leading down, Aya and Jela descended the ramp into the pipe line.

In a small workshop underneath the Yuno Sage Guild, the wizard Sigma practically slammed the ancient text he'd been working with on his sage friend Revaine's desk. He quickly flipped through the book and gestured to a particular page.

"I managed to get this book to open, and when I did I found this. The book is an old Elvish history book. I won't pretend to be fluent in Ancient Elven, but this one picture caught my eye. It gets me very worried about the situation in Prontera," said the wizard as he directed Revaine's attention to a large picture taking up nearly an entire page. The picture appeared to be a very large thief bug, but it had been colored gold by the elf who had written the book.

"It's just like the rumors from Prontera... A golden thief bug..." Revaine said as she stared at the picture. "If this is true, it could mean huge problems for Prontera."

"It isn't just this," said the wizard as he continued to flip through the book, pausing every time there was a picture. "Look at these. A king mummy, a queen bee, a huge wolf made out of ice. Where have you heard of things like this before?"

"These pictures all match rumors I've heard," the sage replied. "But no one's been able to prove any of these things exist." As Revaine spoke, Sigma swept the book off the desk and headed for the door.

"Come on, we've got to hurry to Prontera. We need to warn the Crusaders."

"Ok, just give me a second. I haven't traveled in a while, so I need to get a few things. I'll meet you outside the Guild in three minutes."

The wizard tucked the book into his robe and quickly walked out of the Sage Guild building. As he waited for Revaine, the wizard took a second to mutter a quick incantation. Four glowing balls of light appeared around the wizard's hand and hung suspended in the air. Sigma focused briefly on each of them, and as he did the orbs shot into the sky and out across Rune-Midgard. The sage, now carrying a large and heavy-looking blue book, ran up just as the glowing orbs disappeared over the horizon.

"What is that?" the wizard asked, glancing at the book Revaine was carrying.

"This is my weapon. Didn't I tell you how Sages are trained in the use of special magic books as their weapons?" the sage replied somewhat indignantly. Sigma chuckled and then spoke again.

"Well, let's hurry. Unless your "weapon" has a spell that'll put us halfway across the world in a second, we're going to need to get an acolyte and we need to do it soon." The two almost ran to the center of Juno and cornered the first acolyte they saw. After establishing that she could warp them to Prontera, Sigma practically threw a sack of money at her and, moments later, the wizard and the sage stepped through the glimmering blue gateway and out of the Sage City.

Deep beneath the fields of Prontera, Jela and Aya forged valiantly onward through the maze of pipes that made up the Prontera Culverts. As they worked their way deeper into the pipes, they noticed that many of the bugs they encountered were already dead, either charred beyond recognition or slashed into pieces by blades.

"Those other guys must already be ahead of us. We should try to find a path that they haven't taken so we can clear out more bugs," remarked Jela after they found a huge pile of frozen bugs with just one living one creeping around (which Aya finished with a fire spell). A few pipes later they discovered a four-way split in the pipelines. Within three of the pipes were signs that people had recently used the tunnels, but the fourth pipe, which led downward, held no signs of recent passage.

"Should we go down there?" asked Jela, indicating the unused passage.

"I dunno... Are you sure we're strong enough for this?" Aya responded uncertainly. "Maybe we should follow one of the others."

"But there won't be anything to fight in the other tunnels. We can take a bunch of bugs. Come on," said the thief. The two proceeded down the tunnel and into the darkness of the lower pipes.


	7. Reinforcements

Chapter 7: Reinforcements

Disclaimer: I do not own Ragnarok Online or anything associated with it.

High in the sky, four glowing balls of magic rocketed away from Juno and toward the southern part of the kingdom. As the four orbs shot over Al De Baran, their paths diverged as they blasted toward three different destinations. Two of the orbs followed nearly the exact same path into the south eastern regions of the kingdom, while the other two flew south-west of Al De Baran, heading toward the same region of the kingdom but not to the same destination. Each of the orbs had been magically programmed to seek out a specific person, and they arrowed toward their final destinations at tremendous speeds.

Silent as a shadow, a hunter moved through the dense forests outside of Payon. Above him, his falcon barely rustled the leaves of the trees as they both stalked a single creature. As he peered around the tree he was hiding behind, the hunter focused on his prey. The small grey raccoon, called a smokie, was crouched in the center of a small forest clearing nearby. This particular smokie was also clutching a small headband topped with cat ears, which is the reason the hunter was after it. The smokie had stolen the hairband from Payon Town two days ago, and the hunter had been searching for it ever since. Quietly drawing an arrow from his quiver and fitting it on the bowstring, the hunter prepared to dispose of the thieving raccoon and take the headband back to town.

Without warning, a brightly glowing fireball dropped out of the sky and through the clearing in the forest. The smokie looked up in surprise and was about to bolt when the glowing ball of energy slammed into it, causing a small explosion that knocked the hunter off his feet and caused all of the animals within a few hundred feet to scatter into the forest. As the hunter staggered back to his feet, he looked back at the clearing to see what had happened to the smokie. A small crater was all that remained where the smokie had stood, but for some reason the headband still lay in the center of the crater, with the orb of magic floating above it. Realizing what the orb was, the hunter stepped out of the shadow of the trees and approached it. As he drew near, the orb expanded and transformed into a glowing image of the wizard Sigma, which began speaking.

"Kihake, I hope I didn't catch you at a bad time. I'm sure you remember all of the old legends we used to hear about and investigate. It turns out that some of those might actually be true. So, if you want to fight a legendary monster that's stronger than anything you've ever seen before, please come to Prontera city immediately."

Sigma's image collapsed in on itself and vanished, leaving behind a small wing-shaped object on the ground next to the hairband. Kihake picked both items up, grinned, and then crushed the wing in his hand. With a flash of blue light, the hunter and his falcon were gone from the clearing and back in the city. After returning the hairband, Kihake set off for the center of the city to find an acolyte to send him to Prontera.

Far in the southwest region of the kingdom, in the resort city of Comodo, two sisters were busily cleaning up the inn room they had been staying in for a week in preparation for their departure from the town. The older sister, a priestess, had heard that adventurers flocked to Comodo to fight seal-shaped monsters called Sea Otters. Since the journey to the beach where the seals resided was arduous and tough, anyone with warp portals could make a fair bit of profit selling warps to the seals' beach. The priestess's sister, a knight, had followed her to investigate several local legends. Soon after arriving, the two sisters had discovered that there were so many priests, priestesses, and acolytes in the town that warp prices were extremely low, and so they had decided to return to traveling once again. As they were preparing to leave, two glowing balls of magic shot out of the Comodo sky, passed through the windows of their room like ghosts, and startled them both. Once they recognized the orbs, however, they calmed down and waited for the orbs to present their messages. The two orbs hovered for a moment before they flickered, melded together, and coalesced into a single image of Sigma which began speaking.

"Lucretia and Tsuzumi. I'm sure you both remember all of the times our old guild tried to find explanations for local rumors all across the world. It turns out that many of those rumors may actually be true. Please come to Prontera city immediately and I'll explain more."

The image vanished, leaving behind a blue stone on the floor of the inn. Lucretia walked over to the stone, picked it up, and examined it for a moment.

"Could you check us out of the hotel while I finish packing, Tsuzumi?" Lucretia asked her sister.

"Sure," replied the knight. Tsuzumi left the room while the priestess finished gathering all of their belongings. Once the knight had returned, Lucretia created a portal with the gemstone she had received and the two sisters stepped through the vortex and out of Comodo.

West of Payon and its forests, deep within the desert, another hunter wrapped a cloak around his face as he struggled toward Morroc through a blinding sandstorm. He had been hunting in Ant Hell for quite some time, but upon exiting he had discovered not only a raging sandstorm but also that he had forgotten to bring a butterfly wing. As he forged through the howling winds and the stinging sand, a bright light suddenly appeared in the sky hurtling straight toward him. The magic sphere plunged into the storm and, as it neared the hunter, pulsed once. As the sphere pulsed, the sand whipping around the hunter seemed to be forced back and a sphere of calm surrounded the sphere and the hunter. The sphere glowed and then transformed into an image of Sigma.

"Elohim, I'm sure you remember all of the legends and rumors our old guild used to investigate. It turns out that many of them might be true. If you want to fight something more challenging than anything we've ever faced before, come to Prontera immediately."

The wizard's image vanished and a fly wing dropped out of the air onto the sand. Seizing his chance while the magic sphere of calm still held, Elohim grabbed the fly wing and crushed it in his hand, disappearing in a flash of blue light. Once he had reappeared in Morroc, the hunter quickly found an acolyte and purchased a warp to the capital city.

Upon arriving in Prontera, Sigma and Revaine sat down on a bench near the fountain in the center of the city.

"What are we waiting for?" asked the sage. "Shouldn't we be going to help your apprentice?"

"Yes, but there's no way we could take on that creature by ourselves. I asked a few of our old guildsmen to join us," replied the wizard. As he spoke, a hunter in blue clothes, a priestess and a knight, and another hunter all appeared out of thin air around the fountain.

"Here they are now," said Sigma as he rose to greet the new arrivals.

"Sigma and Revaine, good to see you both again," said Kihake as he, Tsuzumi, Lucretia, and Elohim all walked over to the bench.

"Yeah, good to see you again!" echoed Lucretia, Tsuzumi, and Elohim.

"So what did you call us here for?" asked Elohim.

"Come on, I'll show you. We have to hurry, so there isn't enough time to explain," replied Sigma. "This way, and hurry!" Following Sigma, the group set off for the West Gate. Along the way, Sigma and Revaine showed everyone the book with the picture of the giant insect.

"What is that thing?" asked Lucretia.

"We believe that that's some kind of thief bug leader. The reports of the thief bug infestation in the Culverts here match with some old Elvish records," replied Revaine. "Whatever it is, it's bound to be very powerful."

"Sounds like fun," said Kihake. The group reached the Culvert entrance and, after assuring the guard that they were there to help, hurried inside. At the bottom of the entrance ramp, the six adventurers paused.

"So where is this golden thief bug?" asked Tsuzumi.

"I'd guess it's on the bottom floor. We should probably see if we can catch up with my apprentice Aya and her friend before they get there," said Sigma.

"Good idea. And one of us should try to find anyone else in the Culverts and get them all to meet us at the bottom. The more people we have, the better chance we'll stand against the creature," said Kihake. "Let's go."

"I'll find anyone else who's here. You all go on ahead," Revaine said. Revaine hurried off into the darkness of the Culverts while everyone else pulled small objects out of their packs, affixed them to their collars, and vanished in a series of flashes of light.


	8. Golden Bug

Disclaimer: I do not own Ragnarok Online or anything associated with it.

Chapter 8: Golden Bug

Aya and Jela descended the ramp into yet another series of pipes. These pipes had been blocked off at both ends, but maintenance doors on the sides of the pipes had been opened, providing access between the pipes. Unlike the previous levels, there did not seem to be any dead bugs at all.

"I guess no one's been down here yet," said Aya. "Look, all of the bugs on this level are the really big kind we saw on the last level. There are no more of the smaller kind."

"Yeah. Maybe that means we're getting closer to the bottom," replied Jela. "Let's go, and be careful. These things hit much harder than the smaller ones." Jela rubbed a bruise on the back of his neck as he said this.

The two made their way cautiously through the tunnels, dispatching bugs and bats as they went. By fighting the large bugs one at a time, the thief and mage were able to proceed slowly but without sustaining too many injuries. After passing through several blocked-off pipes, the two found a maintenance door that lead to a staircase downward, rather than to another pipe. These new stairs spiraled down into darkness; neither the thief nor the mage could see where the stairs ended. Every once in a while a thief bug would scamper up the stairs or up the wall and out the door into the pipes.

"Let's go down there. We might find the source of all these bugs," said Jela. Aya nodded and the two began to climb down the dusty stairs.

On the floor above, Kihake, Sigma, Elohim, Lucretia, and Tsuzumi had all caught up with one another in front of the four-way fork. Kihake knelt down and examined faint tracks in the dust leading into each path.

"Only two of these paths have had two people pass through them any time recently," he reported to the group. "The tracks at this path look like they were made by people in heavy armor," he said, gesturing at the second tunnel.

"Not my apprentice then," the wizard spoke up. "Neither Aya nor her friend Jela, a thief, were wearing any kind of heavy armor."

"Then they must have gone down this path," said Kihake as he gestured to the third tunnel. "Let's go." Scattering thief bugs as they went, the four hurried through the maze of pipes that lay before them.

After battling their way through separate tunnels and sections of pipe Hero and Davon, Tsunami, and the assassin all ended up in converging tunnels that lead to a huge junction room.

"What are you all doing here? We were counting on stronger adventurers like you to head to the lower tunnels and find out the source of the problems!" raged Hero as the four entered the junction room and spied each other.

"We thought that was where we were going. Guess we must have all thought wrong," said the assassin with a shrug.

"I know at least one of those tunnels at the fork leads deeper into the Culverts," Davon said calmly. "It must have been the one none of us took. Come on, the four of us can easily take care of whatever is causing this." With that, the four ran back through one of the tunnels to the four-way junction. At the junction they met the sage Revaine and the group of younger adventurers who had come to the Culverts with the latest group.

"Oh, good. I thought I'd never run into any Crusaders," said Revaine as she saw the two Crusaders emerge from one of the pipes. "Listen, we need your help. My friends are on their way to the bottom of this place to fight against this creature, the source of all of the thief bugs here." Hardly pausing, Revaine flipped open the book and showed the four the picture of the Golden Thief Bug. "Come on, I can lead you to them."

"_That_ thing is the source of the bugs?" asked a bewildered Hero.

"I guess so, Captain," replied Davon.

"What are we waiting for? Let's go!" said Tsunami enthusiastically as Revaine and her group hurried off into the pipe.

Much deeper in the Culverts, Jela and Aya emerged from the staircase into a large room much like the one they had started in. Aya looked around and noticed that there were more bugs in this room than anywhere they had been before.

"Look at them all," she said. "They're everywhere."

"We'd better be careful. Thief bugs are usually passive until provoked, but once we _do_ attack them they have that nasty tendency to band up against us," said Jela.

"Yeah… Let's not take any chances here," replied Aya. The two of them began to explore the room, careful not to antagonize any of the bugs. As they crept around, they noticed something glowing in the faint light of the magical torches throughout the room. The glow also seemed to move periodically.

"Regular thief bugs don't shine like that…" muttered Jela. "Let's go see what that is."

As the two moved closer, the glow suddenly moved into the pool of light at the base of a torch, and the thief and the mage stared in shock. The glow was being caused by an enormous golden thief bug. The torchlight reflected off of its shining gold carapace and large, pincer-like antennae.

"_That_ must be the source of all of the thief bugs. If we kill it, think of how famous we'll become…" mused Jela.

"I dunno… That thing looks awfully strong," said Aya, warily glancing at the golden bug.

"Come on, it's just a big, shiny thief bug. How tough can it be?" said Jela. "Let's get it!" With that, he drew the knife at his belt and ran at the huge bug. Aya, shaking her head, followed more slowly, staff in hand. With a war cry, Jela leapt at the bug and drove his dagger down to stab the bug… only to have the dagger glance off the bug's shining armor.

"What!" shouted Jela. But he had no time to wonder. Angered, the golden bug turned toward him and lunged with a frightful speed that should not have been possible from something its size. It jumped at Jela to bite him, and only Jela's thief-trained reflexes, and the fact that he had miraculously not overbalanced himself in his attack, saved him from having his head bitten off. He jumped backwards and landed next to Aya.

"We've got to run! This thing is too strong for us!" he said. Jela was about to grab her arm when he noticed the chill in the air and the blue energy rising around her. Aya finished her spell with a flourish, and daggers of ice formed in the air over their heads and pelted toward the bug. The ice spikes struck… and they too glanced off the bug's armor. The attack, however, caused the bug to orient on the mage that had attempted to hurt it. It lunged toward her, and Aya, without thinking, cast the first spell that came to her mind: Frost Driver. She rapidly spoke the short incantation, and ice spikes shot out of the ground in a line from the mage to the bug. This spell succeeded where the first had failed. The spikes struck the bug and encased it in a large ice block. Not waiting to marvel at their good fortune, Jela grabbed his friend's arm and pulled her toward the stairs.

"We've got to get out of here. We need to find those Crusaders we came with," he said, and Aya nodded her agreement. As they ran across the rusted metal bridges, they heard a roar and the sound of breaking ice behind them. The bug had freed itself from Aya's spell and it bore down on them with incredible speed. It charged at the two and, as it got close, reared back. Jela and Aya thought they could see fire warming in its throat, but pushed this aside as they ran for the platform with the stairs. Behind them, the bug breathed a huge plume of fire, leaving a stretch of the bridge it was on burning. The mage and the thief, however, had been out of range. Frustrated, the bug charged once more and this time, as it closed the distance, leapt through the air to strike…

… and found its momentum halted by a pair of streaking silver arrows from the bottom of the stairs. Kihake, already reaching into his quiver for more arrows, leapt from the stairs and took up a firing position near Aya and Jela. On his heels came Hero, Davon, and Tsuzumi, all brandishing their weapons. The two crusaders held gleaming swords while the knight held a short spear, and all three held gleaming shields. They charged at the bug to halt its advance. Close behind them came the assassin, katars drawn. Following her were the priestess Lucretia, the two wizards, and Elohim the hunter. Last came Revaine and a large group of younger adventurers, who gasped in shock the moment they saw the bug. Revaine had already instructed them, however, and they quickly moved into action. Two acolytes from the group moved to stand with Lucretia, while the group's mage went with Sigma and Tsunami. The rest stood on guard near the spell casters in case any other thief bugs decided to attack. Aya and Jela huddled in the corner by the door, still in shock over their near-death experience. Tsunami flashed them a quick smile.

"Don't worry, we'll take it from here. You two just keep yourselves safe," she said before launching into her first spell.

The two crusaders, the knight, and the assassin all stood around the golden thief bug hacking away, while a barrage of arrows from the two hunters, and an archer who had joined them, flew over their shoulders to strike the bug. The bug retaliated, lashing out at Hero, Davon, and Tsuzumi, who all kept provoking it and taunting it. Fortunately, a combination of the trio's heavy plate armor and frantic heals from Lucretia and the acolytes kept the three alive and the assassin out of trouble. Occasionally the bug would turn and lash at the assassin, but she was always capable of dodging out of harm's way until Hero, Davon, and Tsuzumi could taunt the bug away from her. As Sigma and Tsunami finished their spells, lightning and ice rained down from the air above the bug. Unlike Aya's first spell these two struck home, causing the bug to screech in pain. Seeing each other's spell choices, the two wizards turned to each other.

"Frost Driver?" asked Tsunami simply.

"Way ahead of you," said Sigma, launching into another spell that caused lightning to crackle around him. Tsunami gave Sigma a few seconds head start and then shouted to the four attacking the bug:

"Don't attack it while it's frozen!" she shouted and then cast a quick spell. Lines of icicle spikes shot across the ground to slam into the golden bug. As before, the bug was instantly encased in a large block of ice. As Hero, Davon, Tsuzumi, and the assassin stood by waiting, Sigma finished his spell. A ball of lightning shot from Sigma to impact the frozen bug. It slammed into the bug and coursed through the ice encasing it. The bug was bowled over backwards by the sheer electrical force of the ball, magnified by the ice surrounding it. The ice shattered, and the fighters were allowed to once more attack the bug.

The battle continued to rage. Tsunami and Sigma repeated their spell combo many more times, with periods in between to allow the fighters and archers to cause tremendous amounts of damage and keep the bug from orienting on the wizards. Aya eventually stood up and joined Tsunami and Sigma in throwing spells at the bug. Revaine and the younger adventurers saw their fair share of fighting, as many regular thief bugs came to the aid of the golden one. Slowly but surely, the combined attacks of the crusaders, knight, assassin, archers, and wizards began to wear down the bug. Its golden shell was marred from all of the attacks and it began to screech in pain after almost every hit.

Enraged and in pain, the golden bug sought desperately to escape from its antagonists. Gathering all of its failing strength, it leapt blindly at Davon. The crusader did not manage to get his shield up in time, and the bug knocked him over and dashed across his prone body. Now free of the imprisoning ring of fighters, the bug oriented on the first thing it saw and charged.

Aya screamed as she watched the bug bear down on her. She hurled a Frost Driver at it, but the bug shrugged off the ice and continued to charge.

"Someone help!" she shrieked. She turned to run, but slipped and fell.

Jela, who had been finishing off a wayward thief bug, turned instantly at the sound of Aya's scream. He took in the fallen mage and the thief bug charging her all in a second. Without thinking, he sprinted toward the bug and leapt at it. The thief landed on the bug's back, stalling its movement and causing it to slide on the ground. Jela jabbed his knife downward, not thinking about or caring that his knife had glanced off last time. This time, however, the knife found a vulnerable spot in the bug's armor right behind its head.

The bug shrieked in terrible pain and convulsed. The movement threw Jela off its back and nearly snapped the knife into pieces. Though he knew the bug was finished, Kihake put another arrow between the plates of its shell for good measure. The bug continued to jerk around in pain until it finally came to a shuddering stop and lay still.

No one moved. Everyone stood staring at the dead bug. Finally, Revaine broke the silence.

"So, that's it," she said.

"Good work everyone. Now let's get out of here," said Hero. As Lucretia finished healing everyone's wounds, the group slowly filed up the stairs and through the myriad pipes they had descended. They noticed that as they drew closer and closer to the surface, the number of thief bugs they saw dramatically decreased. In the first room they had entered, they noticed that there were now no thief bugs left. Finally, the group climbed the ramp out of the Culverts and ascended into the bright sunlight of day once more.


End file.
